Found footage films tend to have varying effects on viewers. Some love the immersiveness of the first person perspective, while others get motion sickness from the unstable camerawork. When we monitored Grave Encounters (2011) we witnessed firsthand the alarmingly high heart rates it caused. Love them or hate them, found footage films create a visceral reaction capable of producing extreme levels of anxiety and stress.
We reached out to the Instagram community for their suggestions on the scariest films in this sub-genre. The Spanish film REC (2007) was mentioned quite often. Find out how our subject held up when she watched a film labeled as one of the best of its kind.
SYNOPSIS:
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
What is FearScale? We’ve all heard the expression ‘Scared to Death’ or how something ‘Made My Heart Skip a Beat’, but what does that actually look like? Studies have shown that even when subjected to stimuli that can not present a true threat of danger, our bodies will still produce a physiological response. By analyzing real-time results we are able to give you the most accurate reviews for anything that makes your heart race.
Test Subject: Leah
Age : 35
Gender: Female
Fears: Claustrophobia / Needles
Resting HR: 62-65 bpm
Walking HR: 80-85 bpm
ANALYSIS:
The film began with no opening credits propelling our subject immediately into the story. By 15:00, her heart rate had already climbed 20bpm with the action unfolding. A few scenes filmed in daylight weakened intense moments. We didn’t see her pulse hit extreme numbers until the characters were plunged into darkness. Surround sound also played a huge factor in heightening the experience when the handheld camera lacked the ability to focus on the terror. Our subject hit her peak of 91bpm twice during the film, both times during vicious attacks. Her pulse continued to race even through the end credits.
CONCLUSION:
REC (2007) grinded on our subject’s psyche gradually inducing the reactions we’ve now come to expect with found footage. This foreign film, even with the distraction of subtitles, sustained an intensity that kept our subject on edge. Though the daylight scenes early on dropped her overall average, the spine-chilling third act was enough to land REC(2007) among the higher ranking films at FearScale.
REC : Burns an average of 182 Calories
How many Fear Calories did you burn watching REC? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
